Ernest Satow : A Diplomat in Japan

This memoir would probably be fascinating

for those familiar with the Meiji Restoration and the characters involved.

For me - it was like listening to the obscure dinner table chatter

of the table next to yours.

(and many good dinners were described in some detail)

It would appear that young Satow,

then working as a translator as he learned the language,

was completely in the dark

regarding the Japanese politics of that time.

He keeps reassuring us that the British had no horses in this race.

But he also seems to favor the Emperor over the Shogun.

The main drama, for him, takes place on a very small scale:

Europeans being randomly murdered by sword-happy Samurai -

for  which the European diplomats would demand justice and restitution.

He is less concerned when the European and American gunboats fire 

on Japanese towns and fortifications. 

Regrettfully, there are no details of Satow's off-duty life.

Eventually he would take a Japanese woman as common-law wife,

so we may suspect that he may have been served by

courtesans as well as geishas.  

But we'll never know.